Self-aligning detachable hinge



Nov. 8, 1966 H. E; ESKRIDGE 3,283,359

SELF-ALIGNING DETACHABLE HINGE Filed March 23, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet l E64 3220 *"I @y INVENTOR 'F15 "3 j: 2 #Aww E. .eske/@qe Y BY Nov. 8, 1966 H. E. ESKRIDG 3,283,359

SELF-ALIGNING DETACHABLE HINGE Filed March 23, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 www, Qq/4, @94%.

United States APatent O 3,283,359 SELF-ALIGNING DETACHABLE HINGE Harold E. Eskridge, 3196 Wadsworth Road, Barberton, Ohio Filed Mar. 23, 1964, Ser. No. 353,923 12 Claims. (Cl. 16-149) This .invention relates to a detachable hinge to be mounted on jamb and door members for pivotally connecting those members and, more particularly, to :a hinge that will also automatically align itself in locking engagement with the member on which it is mounted.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a hinge of the above type that can be used for hanging doors on jambs without the use of threaded fasteners, that can be mounted on doors and jambs with the simplest tools or even without any tools, that is particularly useful for hanging metal doors on metal jambs but can be readily adapted for use with wooden doors or jambs, and that in the process of being mounted will align itself automatically in desired orientation to the door or jamb member and lock rmly in aligned position.

A further obje-ct is to provide such a hinge in which the aligning and locking elements increase the rigidity of the connection between the hinge and the door jamb member on which it is mounted, particularly adjacent the knuckle of the hinge.

Other objects of this invention will be apparent from the :following description of a preferred embodiment, in connection with the attached drawings, 'm which FIG. 1 is a horizontal section of one fo-rm of the hinge of this invention, shown mounted on a jamb member and on a door member for pivotally connecting those two members, the door member being shown in both open and closed (broken line) positions;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation, partly in section, of the hinge assembly of FIG. 1, looking in the direction of -arrows II-II in FIG. 1, with a part of one hinge leaf removed to show the underlying structure; l

FIG. 3 is a rear elevation, partly in section, of the same hinge assembly, looking in the direction of arrows III- III in F-IG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation, partly in section, yof the same hinge assembly on the line IV-IV of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an isometric View of the back of the hinge shown in the preceding figures;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary isometric view of the back of a modified form of hinge;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the hinge in FIG. 6 and a horizontal section ofa door member on which it is mounted;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary rear elevation, partly in section of the hinge and door member in FIG. 7, looking in the direction of arrows VIII-VIH in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary front elevation, partly in section, of the same hinge assembly, looking in the direction of arrows D-IX in FIG. 7.

FIG. lO is aside elevation, partly in section, on the line X-X of FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary isometric View of the back of a second modified form of hinge;

FIG. 12 is a plan view of the hinge shown in FIG. 11 and a horizontal section of a door member on which it is mounted;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary rear elevation, partly in section, of the same hinge and ldoor assembly, looking in the direction of arrows XIII-XIII in FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary front elevation, partly in section, of this hin-ge and door assembly, looking in the direction of arrows XIV-XIV cin FIG. 12;

FIG. 15 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the hinge and door assembly on line XV-XV 0f FIG. 13.

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The hinge of this invention includes a pair of pivoted leaf members. On each leaf there is an aligning abutment, which may include either a side edge of the leaf, a portion of a projecting tongue, or the like. T-here is a complementary aligning abutment on each of the door and 'jamb members. Complementary lug and lug-receiving means are gprovided for detachably mounting one leaf of the hinge on the door member and the other leaf on the jamb member; and those means are so arranged that they wedgingly force the abutments on the hin-ge leaves into aligning and locking engagement with the complementary abutments on the door and jamb members.

Referring to the drawings, specifically IFIGS. 1-5, the hinge Iof this invention is generally indicated by the nu.. meral 1 and includes the butt plates or leaves 2 and 3. Leaf 2 is mounted on a metal door frame member 4, and leaf 3 is mounted on a metal jamb frame member 5. In the drawing, the jamb member is shown as an extruded, Z-shaped, molding attached to a wooden jamb post 6. .lamb member 5 includes a jamb face portion 7, a vertically extending abutment portion 8 projecting at right angles Ifrom the face 7, and a decorative return portion 9 overlying the front 10 of the jamb post 6. Door member 4 includes a face 11, on which hinge leaf 2 is mounted. The doo-r member is yalso provided with a vertically extending abutment flange or bead 12. The two hinge leaves 2 and 3 are pivotally connected by a pintle 13 passing through knuckles 14. So far, what has been described is conventional. The means for mounting the hinge leaves on the door and Ijamb members include a plurality of lug and lug-receiving means. Preferably, because of appearances and not because of any structural reasons, the lug means are on the hinge leaves `and the lug-receiving means are on the jamb and door members. As shown in the drawings, the lug means are in the form of tongues 15, struck out from the body of the hinge leaves, so that the free ends of the tongues extend generally parallel to, but are spaced from, the plane of the leaf body. The tongues may in'- clude, ifdesired, a reinforcing rib 16. The lug-receiving means on the door and jamb members are in the form of slots 17. One side edge 18 of each slot is inclined at a slight angle to the vertically extending abutments 8 and 12. Alternatively, the sides of these slots may be parallel to those abutments, and one side of each tongue may be disposed at the desired angle thereto. In each case, it will be apparent that when the tongues are inserted in their matching slots and slid upwards (or downwards) relative to the door or jamb members to fully insert the tongues in those slots, there will be a wedging action forcing each hinge leaf laterally, so that their outer side edges 20 will be forced into tight aligning and locking engagement with abutments 8 and 12, respectively.

It will *be noted that the tongues in one hinge leaf extend in the opposite direction to those in the other leaf. This is to assure that the vertical forces normally present or impressed on door and jam-b will urge the hinge leaves into their locked positions. For example, hinge leaf 2 has its tongues 1S extending upwards, so that the weight of the door supported thereon will always tend to keep the tongues fully engaged in the slots 17 of the door member. For the same reason, the tongues in the hinge leaf 3 extend downwards to fit into the slots of the jamb member, so that the weight of the door will urge the tongues downwards and tend to maintain them fully engaged in their slots. The locking fit between tongues and slots and between the aligning abutments is tight enough, however, to resist all upwardly directed forces on the door that can normally be expected and the would tend to unseat the hinge leaves from the door or jamb member.

In FIGS. 6-10 is shown a modified form of hinge, in which a second group of spaced tongues 25 are struck out of the outer side edge of each hinge leaf. These tongues include a connecting portion 26, which extends substantially normal to the leaf body, and a free end portion 27, which extends substantially parallel to the leaf body (and also substantially at a right angle to tongues 15) and is provided with an outer edge 28. Tongues 25 are adapted to -be inserted in elongated vertical slots 29 in the faces 7 and 11,'respectively, of the door and jamfb members. These slots have suicient length (l) to permit tongues 25.to be inserted therein either at the same time as tongues 15 are inserted in slots 17 or, if the slots 29 are wide enough to receive the L-shaped tongues 25 without tilting the hinge leaf, before tongues 15 are inserted in slots 17, and (2) to permit relative vertical movement between the hinge leaf and the door or jamb member for fully inserting tongues 15 into slots 17. The remaining elements of the hinge shown in FIGS. 6-10 are the same as those of the hinge described in connection with FIGS. 1-5 r4and are similarly numbered in the drawings. There is also the same wedging action in both forms of the invention, in which the engagement of tongues 15 in slots 17 lforces the abutments into tight aligning andflocking engagement. In the modified arrangement of FIGS. 6-10, these abutments may be (l) the side edge 30 of the hinge` leaf between the tongues 25 and abutments 8 and 12, respectively, on the jamb and door members; (2) the outer edges 28 of tongues 25 on the hinge leaf and the inside -surface 31 of the door member, (see FIG. 7) or the corresponding surface 32 of spacing bead 33 on the underside of jamfb member 5; (3) the connecting Vportion 26 of tongues 25k on the hinge leaf and edges 34 of slots 29 on `the door or jamb member; or (4) combinations of two or more of the foregoing abutments.

Itis a feature of the modified form of the invention shown in FIGS. 6-10 that it provides not only additional aligning abutments, but also means for locking the hinge leaf more securely to the door or jamb mem ber. Although the aligning tongues 25 are shown as being located on the side of the hinge leaf remote from the hinge knuckle 14, it Will `be obvious that the tongues could be on the other side of the leaf adjacent the knuckle and be received in complementary slots (not shown) in the faces 7 and 11 of the door and jamb members. In such case, the wedging action of tongues and slots 17 should be in the opposite direction from that herein described to assure tight aligning and locking engagement.

Another form of locking and aligning means is illustrated in FIGS. 11-15 and includes spaced tongues 40 on the side edge of the hinge leaf adjacent the knuckle. Again, the tongue includes a connecting portion 41, which extends substantially at right angles to the leaf body, and a free end portion 42, which extends substantially parallel to the lea-f vbody but in a direction toward the opposite side edge of the leaf, so that the tongue and leaf body form a somewhat J-shaped hook. The free end 42 of this tongue is received in complementary elongated slots 43 on the side of the door member, or in similar slots (not shown) on the molding portion 9 of the jamb member (see FIG. 1). In each case, the edge or corner 44` (see FIGS. l and 12) of the jamb or door member can act as an aligning abutment in cooperation with they connecting portions 41 of tongues 40. This aligning function can supplement or replace that of the outer edges of the hinge yleaf against abutments 8 and 12. In either case, the desired wedging action is obtained by the interengagement of slots 17 and tongues 15, as previously described in connection with FIGS. 1-5.

It is a feature of this last described modification that tongues 40 on the hinge leaves and their complementary slots 43 in the' door and jamb members can function not only as aligning abutments, but also as additional locking means between the hinge and the door or jamb member, giving extra rigidity and strength to the hinge assembly. It is generally more advantageous to provide this reinforcement immediately adjacent the knuckle of the hinge, where the forces tending to separate the hinge from the structure on which it is mounted are greatest and where conventional fastening means provide no anchor. Y

In the modified forms of hinge shown in FIGS. 6-15, the vertical location of tongues 25 and 40 on the edge of the hinge leaf is largely a matter of choice. Generally, the farther they are spaced apart, the greater will be the rigidity of the assembled hinge and door or jamb member. However, some consideration can be given to appearances and by locating those tongues as shown in FIGS. 6 and 11, it is possible to have adjacent parts of the hinge leaf overlie and conceal those portions of slots 29 and 43 that are not filled by the tongues when the hinge is in its fully locked position. For example, in FIGS.` 8 and 9, the lower'portion of slots 29, into which tongues 25 were rst inserted, are not lled by the tongues after the hinge leaf has been slid upwards relative to the door member into the fully locked position shown. However, in the assembled hinge and door member, when viewed from thefront (see FIG. 9), the lower portion of each slot 29 is concealed under the adjacent portion 50 of the hinge leaf. Likewise, with the form of hinge shown in FIG. 11,'the portions of slot-s 43 that are unlled fby tongues 40 will underlie portions of the hinge leaf that are adjacent knuckles 14 (see jFIGS.l 12-14); and the closer the knuckles to the door or jamb member, the more will those portions of the slots Vbe concealed from view.

ItV should also be understood that, although the various tongues herein referred .to'have been described as being on the hinge leaves with their complementary slots onthe other members, this arrangement can be revised so that all or part of the `slots are on the hinge leaves and the complementary tongues on the other members. It will be noted that in the attached drawings, the tongues 15 are tapered on one side to conform to the taper of slots 18 into which they it. It lwill, of course, be apparent that other camming means can be used to wedgingly force together the abutments on the hinge leaves and on the door and jamb members. Y

If desired, a stop may be provided to assist in assembling the hinge leaves on the door and jamb members. On the jamb member, this stopmay take the form of a lug 51 struck out of the face 7 ofthe jamb member as shown in FIG. 2. This lug is adapted toengage the lower edge 52 of the hinge leaf when its tongues 15 have been fully inserted into the slots 17 of the jamb member. A similar stop is` provided on the door member, where the end 53 of a flange 54 limits upward movement of the adjacent hinge leaf when the tongues on the leaf have been fully inserted in the slots of the door member.

Although the hinge of this invention has been described herein in connection with door and jambl members made of metal, it should be understood that the hingel can be adapted for use with those members when made ofother materials, such as wood. This can be done by mounting the hinge on a suitable metal adapter plate Vthat is fastened by conventional means to the `wooden door `or jamb structure. These plates would be provided with slots and would rotherwise suitably conform to those portions of the door and jamb members that are illustrated and described in this specification. Accordingly, the terms door members and jamb members, as used in the appended claims, are intended to include not only `metal door frames and metal jamb frames but also metal plates or extrusions mounted on frames made of other materials.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the ,principle of my invention `and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appendedV claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specilically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. A detachable, self-aligning hinge assembly comprising a door member, a jamb member, and a hinge having a pair of pivoted leaf members, an aligning abutment on each leaf member, a complementary aligning abutment on each of the door and jamb members, tongue means on some of said members and complementary slot means on the mating other members, the tongue means of one member being slidably insertable in the slot means of a mating member upon relative movement of said members in a direction generally parallel to their abutments for detachably mounting one hinge leaf member on the door member and the other leaf member on the jamb member, the tongue means having a side edge that engages a side edge of the complementary slot means when the tongle means is inserted in the slot means and said side edge of at least one of said means being disposed at an angle to the abutment on that member for laterally displacing the hinge leaf relative to the member on which it is mounted when the tongue means are inserted in and slidably engaged with the slot means, thereby wedging the abutments on the hinge leaf into tight aligning engagement with the complementary abutments on the door and jamb members.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which the tongue means are on the leaf members and the slot means are on the door and jamb members.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which said side edge that is disposed at an angle to the abutment is a side edge of the slot means.

4. Apparatus according to clairn 1, in which the abutment on the leaf member is the outer edge of that member and in Iwhich the complementary abutment on the other member includes a projecting flange.

S. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which the abutments include second tongue means on some of the members and complementary second slot means on the mating other members for receiving the second tongue means, said second tongue and slot means extending generally at right angles to the first tongue and slot means.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, in which the second tongue means include a plurality of spaced tongues struck from a side edge portion of each leaf member, and in which the second slot means are located on the mating other member underlying the hinge leaf.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, in which said side edge of the leaf member is the outer edge of that member.

S. Apparatus according to claim 5, in which the second tongue means is struck from the side edge portion of the leaf member adjacent the pivoted connection with the other leaf member.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8, in which the second slot means are located in the side of the member on which the hinge leaf is mounted.

10. In combination with a door or jamb member, a detachable hinge element comprising a substantially at leaf member provided with a plurality of tongue means extending generally parallel to a side edge of the leaf, the other member being provided with a plurality of complementary slot means for slidably receiving the tongues of the leaf member, an abutment on each of said members substantially parallel to a side edge of said member and adapted to engage the abutment of the other member for aligning the two members, one of said tongue and slot means having a side edge disposed at an angle to said side edge of the member containing such means and adapted to engage a side edge of the ccmplementary means when theV tongue means are slidably inserted in the slot means, thereby t0 wedge the abutments of the two members into tight aligning engagement with each other.

11. In combination with a door or jamb member, a detachable hinge element comprising a substantially at leaf member provided with a plurality of tongue means extending generally parallel to a side edge of the leaf, the

other member being provided lwith a plurality of complementary slot means for slidably receiving the tongues of the leaf member, an abutment on each of said members substantially parallel to a side edge of said member and adapted to engage the abutment of the other member for aligning the two members, the said means having a tapered side edge disposed at an angle to the abutment and adapted to engage an edge of the complementary tongue means when the tongue means are slidably inserted in the slot means, thereby to wedge the abutments of the two members into tight aligning engagement with each other.

12. In combination with door and jamb members, a hinge comprising a pair of pivoted leaf members, an aligning abutment on each leaf, a complementary aligning abutment on each of the dooi and jamb members, lug means on some of said members slidably insertable in complementary lug-receiving means on others of said members for detachably mounting one hinge leaf on the door member and the other leaf on the jamb member, the lug-receiving means including an elongated slot having an edge portion extending in the general direction of the aligning abutment on that member, and the complementary lug means having an edge portion engageable with the edge portion of said slot when the lug means is inserted in the lug-receiving means and slidably moved therein in a direction generally parallel to said abutment, one of said edge portions being disposed at an acute angle relative to said abutment for causing relative lateral displacement of said members during such sliding movement for wedgingly forcing their abutments together.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 55,987 7/1866 Beers 16-149 2,207,836 7/ 1940 Sundell 16-149 2,726,745 l2/ 1955 Quinn 189-49 EDWARD C. ALLEN, Primary Examiner.

PATRICK A. CLIFFORD, Examiner.

D. L. TROUTMAN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A DETACHABLE, SELF-ALIGNING HINGE ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A DOOR MEMBER, A JAMB MEMBER, AND A HINGE HAVING A PAIR OF PIVOTED LEAF MEMBERS, AN ALIGNING ABUTMENT ON EACH LEAF MEMBER, A COMPLEMENTARY ALIGNING ABUTMENT ON EACH OF THE DOOR AND JAMB MEMBERS, TONGUE MEANS ON SOME OF SAID MEMBERS AND COMPLEMNTARY SLOT MEANS ON THE MATING OTTHER MEMBERS, THE TONGUE MEANS OF ONE MEMBER BEING SLIDABLY INSERTABLE IN THE SLOT MEANS OF A MATING MEMBER UPON RELATIVE MOVEMENT OF SAID MEMBERS IN A DIRECTION GENERALLY PARALLEL TO THEIR ABUTMENTS FOR DETACHABLY MOUNTING ONE HINGE LEAF MEMBER ON THE DOOR MEMBER AND THE OTHER LEAF MEMBER ON THE JAMB MEMBER, THE TONGUE MEANS HAVING A SIDE EDGE THAT ENGAGES A SIDE EDGE OF THE COMPLEMENTARY SLOT MEANS WHEN THE TONGUE MEANS IS INSERTED IN THE SLOT MEANS AND SAID SIDE EDGE OF AT LEAST ONE OF SAID MEANS BEING DISPOSED AT AN ANGLE TO THE ABUTMENT ON THAT MEMBER FOR LATERALLY DISPLACING THE HINGE LEAF RELATIVE TO THE MEMBER ON WHICH IT IS MOUNTED WHEN THE TONGUE MEANS ARE INSERTED IN AND SLIDABLY ENGAGED WITH THE SLOT MEANS, THEREBY WEDGING THE ABUTMENTS ON THE HINGE LEAF INTO TIGHT ALIGNING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE COMPLEMENTARY ABUTMENTS ON THE DOOR AND JAMB MEMBERS. 